A military dictionary

by William Duane

When a forced march is undertaken for the specific purpose of rendering some design of an enemy abortive, it is the duty of the commissariat to have provisions ready at hand, during the transient halts which are made in this harassing and fatiguing enterprise.

It is usual for great armies to march in several columns, in conformity to the order of battle which has been laid down by the general or commander in chief, at the beginning of the campaign. Those battalions and squadrons which compose the right, take their line of march through that direction of the country; those which compose the left, preserve their relative time and distance in that quarter. The artillery and heavy baggage are generally disposed of in the centre column.

When an army marches directly forward to attack or meet an enemy, the artillery is almost always distributed in the centre: sometimes a brigade of that corps, with a body of select troops in front, precedes each column; but the heavy baggage invariably moves in the rear under cover of the reserve.

When an army marches through a woody or close country, the heads of the different columns are usually covered by a strong detachment of riflemen, preceded by squadrons of horse. Should the enemy be in your rear, when it is found expedient to make a movement, the hospital stores, ammunition, baggage, and artillery, escorted by some squadrons of horse, must be sent forward, and the best disciplined troops, with a certain quantity of artillery, are in that case to make up the rear guard. If the enemy should hang upon your flank (the right, for instance,) the artillery, stores, and baggage, must be conducted by the left: should the enemy direct his operations from the left, the same movements must take place on the right.

A small army may march in one column, having its artillery and baggage between the advanced and rear guards. Should it be brought to action, the dragoons and light cavalry belonging to the advanced guard will compose one wing, and the troops that are disposed of in the rear, will form the other: the infantry will be distributed in the centre with the artillery in its front.

The French seem to have paid the greatest attention to the various details and incidental circumstances which attend the march of any considerable body of troops. It was not, however, until the reign of Louis XIII. that any sort of regular system began to prevail. There was certainly less necessity for such an arrangement, because the baggage was by no means so great, nor was the train of artillery half so extensive. The only dangers, indeed, which were to be guarded against, when the enemy was near, seemed confined to the loss of baggage and artillery. These were, of course, provided against by every able general, who naturally observed the greatest secrecy with respect to his encampment, and practised various stratagems to conceal his march from the enemy.

Some very sensible observations, relative to the manner in which troops should be managed previous to an engagement, may be found in the Rêveries de M. le Maréchal de Saxe; and considerable information may be derived from Les Reflexions de M. le Baron d’Espagnac, on the best method of forming the infantry for battle. See Supplément aux Rêveries, page 19. See likewise Oeuvres Militaires, tom. 1. p. 124.

General observations on the march of troops. Observations from a French work, applicable to general service. When troops are ordered to march, four principal objects should be well considered, viz. locality, time, possible ambuscades, and the ultimate end for which the march is undertaken. In order to secure these important points, some topographers (without whom no army can be said to be well constituted, or its staff ably appointed) should be directed to give in plans of the country, to shew where it is intersected, where hills with their different incurvations appear, where the roads are narrow, where the ground is soft or marshy, and unfavorable to the passage of artillery, where intricate passes occur, where there are woods, hedges, rivers, or marshes, and finally where the country becomes totally impervious.

When these different objects have been well ascertained, and thoroughly digested at head quarters, the component parts of the army must be so distributed with respect to the battalions of infantry, squadrons of horse, artillery, and baggage, that the front of the leading column shall invariably correspond with the extent of the road or defile which is to be marched over.

When troops are ordered to march through an inclosed country, the whole army is divided into a given number of columns, which successively follow each other, and are encamped, cantoned, or quartered separately. Sometimes the country is cleared, as much as circumstances will admit, in order that the several columns may advance, while the artillery, under an escort of infantry on each side, and with cavalry distributed upon both wings of the army, makes the best of its way through the main road. Small detachments, consisting of active, spirited young men, headed by intelligent and enterprising officers, are sent forward to take possession of the different defiles, woods, passes, and to post themselves close to an enemy’s post, for the purpose of blocking it up until the whole of the army has marched by.